The present invention relates to a vise jaw insert for mill vises and the like and, more particularly, to a vise jaw insert assembly adapted for use in such tools for facilitating installation or replacement of gripping surfaces formed on the vise jaws.
Mill vises are employed in many different machine tools such as milling machines, shapers and drill presses for providing a gripping surface to secure a workpiece in place upon the machine. Mill vises commonly have a stationary vise jaw and a movable vise jaw, for example, mounted in opposition to each other. Inserts are replaceably mounted upon each of the vise jaws for gripping a workpiece therebetween as the movable vise jaw is shifted toward the fixed vise jaw.
Such inserts may, for example, be formed from hardened steel or alloy compositions in order to permit their continued use over long periods of time. However, the inserts may also be formed from relatively soft metals such as aluminum or aluminum alloys, for example. The soft inserts are commonly used where it is desired to provide a particular gripping configuration on the face of the insert. For example, grooves or channels are commonly cut along the face or along one edge thereof in order to better adapt the insert to a particular workpiece being secured by the mill vise.
Examples of tools including replaceable vise jaw inserts in the prior art are set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,870 issued to Warde on Sept. 29, 1981 and French patent No. 59,161 published on May 6, 1954. These references are typical of prior art machines or tools having relatively movable vise jaws or members to which replaceable inserts are attached for forming gripping surfaces to secure a workpiece in place. Such inserts have also been provided with offset enlarged passages to permit replacement thereof without removal of the threaded bolts securing them to the jaws.
In normal machine shop operations, mill vises and the like commonly require a substantial member and relatively wide variety of different inserts in order to adapt the machines for use with various workpieces. Accordingly, the inserts are designed to be replaceable upon the relatively movable vise jaws of the mill vise.
A common technique employed in the past for replaceably securing the insert upon the vise jaws was to provide counterbored openings passing through the insert for register with threaded holes in the respective vise jaw. With such an arrangement, a cap screw or other threaded member could be placed in each of the counterbored openings of the insert and threaded into the vise jaw for securing the insert in place.
However, it has been found that the need for frequently replacing the inserts in such mill vises has required substantial time, particularly over an entire working shift. With a prior art design of the type described immediately above, replacement of the insert or inserts in the mill vise required that the vise jaws be moved sufficiently far apart in order to permit access to the screws. Furthermore, the screws had to be completely unthreaded from the vise jaws and actually removed from the insert in order to permit the insert to be replaced. The screws then had to again be passed through the replacement inserts and completely rethreaded into engagement with the respective vise jaw.
This operation was time consuming and tended to contribute to inefficiency of the machine shop operation. Such operation tended to particularly be inefficient if selected operations were frequently repeated, for example, with it being necessary to replace the insert or inserts several times during a working shift.
In addition, the relative complexity of the inserts and the need for inserts of many different designs tended to also add undesirably to the cost of the milling operation.
Accordingly, there has been found to remain a need for a vise jaw insert capable of overcoming one or more problems of the type outlined above. In particular, there has been found to be a need for such an insert which can be rapidly replaced upon the vise jaw or vise jaws of a mill vise.